Franz Fuchs

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Franz Fuchs

Franz Fuchs (December 12, 1949 in Gralla, Styria - February 26, 2000 in Graz) was a xenophobic Austrian terrorist. Between 1993 and 1997 he killed four people and injured 15, some of them seriously, using three improvised explosive devices and five waves of 25 mailbombs in total. His designated targets were people he either considered to be foreigners, or organisations and individuals "friendly to foreigners."

In December 1993 he started his first wave of mailbombs. Early victims were the priest August Janisch (because of his help for refugees), Silvana Meixner (ORF journalist for minorities), and the Mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, who lost his left hand in the explosion. Other mailbombs which were discovered and neutralized were targeted at Helmut Schüller (humanitarian organisation Caritas), the Green politicians Madeleine Petrovic and Terezija Stoisits, Wolfgang Gombocz and Minister Johanna Dohnal.

While attempting to disarm an improvised explosive device, police officer Theo Kelz lost both his hands on August 24, 1994. The explosive device was found at a bilingual school in Carinthia.

Franz Fuchs claimed responsibility for his attacks in a letter to the foreign minister of Slovenia in September 1994, in the name of the "Salzburger Eidgenossenschaft - Bajuwarische Befreiungsarmee". In a number of subsequent letters, he tried to give the impression of a larger organisation with different units. However, from the second wave of mailbombs in October 1994 not a single one went off.

On February 5, 1995, four Roma were killed in Oberwart with an improvised explosive device which was attached to a sign that read "Roma zurück nach Indien" ("Roma back to India.")

Between June 1995 and December 1995 he sent three more waves of mailbombs. Wave number three was targeted at TV host Arabella Kiesbauer, Dietrich Szameit (vice-mayor of Lübeck) and a dating agency. Kiesbauer and Szameit did not open their letters themselves and were not hurt. Wave number four was targeted at two medics and a refugee aid worker, Maria Loley. One medic from Syria and Maria Loley were injured; the other mailbomb, targeted at a South Korean medic was discovered and neutralized. Two mailbombs of wave number five detonated early in mailboxes, the remaining two were discovered and neutralized. This was the last incident before Fuchs was arrested.

During a routine traffic control on October 1, 1997 Franz Fuchs tried to commit suicide with another improvised explosive device, in the belief police had stopped him to arrest him. His suicide attempt failed, but he lost both hands, and also injured a nearby police officer. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. On February 26, 2000, Fuchs committed suicide in his prison cell by hanging himself with the cable of an electric razor.